Thursday, January 05, 2012

“Stupid” sometimes has fatal consequences

Commentary by James H. Shott

There are two items in the news today illustrate both how
stupid some people are as well as how serious the consequences of being stupid
sometimes can be.

We might be tempted to think that as many such examples as
there are of idiotic behavior having horrible consequences that people would
begin to figure out that they should stop and carefully think things through
before acting.

Holding that particular belief gives people far more credit
than they have earned, as the following two tragic stories more than amply
illustrate.

The aftermath of these two events also illustrates how some
people – too many people – will try to relieve the stupid people of
responsibility for their stupid behavior.

In the first incident, from Fox News:

A teenage mom took action recently when an intruder broke
into her Oklahoma home. Sarah McKinley shot and killed the man after calling
911 and speaking to a dispatcher who, upon being asked by McKinley if she
should shoot the suspect, answered that she should do whatever necessary to
‘protect her baby.’ McKinley says she did just that.

According to the 18-year-old’s account, two men began
beating on her front door, prompting McKinley to take her three-month-old baby
and lock herself in a room with a gun before calling emergency dispatch.

When the intruders finally got through the door, the mom had
no more time left to wait for police and made a judgment call.

“I waited ’til he came in the door, and when he did I shot
him. I didn’t know what else to do … I wanted [the police] to hurry and get here
before I had to do it, but they didn’t get here quick enough,” she said.

On today’s America Live, Megyn Kelly pointed out that under
Oklahoma law it is legal to use deadly force against an intruder, in certain
circumstances. Prosecution in the case has decided not to charge McKinley with
any crime. The intruder had a second accomplice, however, and he has absorbed
the charges, set to be tried for first-degree murder.

In Kelly’s Court, Lis Wiehl and Joey Jackson got into a
heated debate over the legal decision, with Wiehl saying the prosecution got
this ‘exactly right.’ Do you agree?

And in the second incident:

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - An armed eighth-grader gunned down
by police officers in the hallway of his Texas middle school Wednesday was
brandishing a pellet gun that looked like a firearm, and he refused repeated
orders to lower the weapon before the officers opened fire, police said.

The carbon-dioxide powered pellet gun 15-year-old Jaime
Gonzalez was holding looked like a handgun, and the initial report to police
that sent officers rushing to Cummings Middle School Wednesday morning was for
a student seen holding a gun, Orlando Rodriguez, Brownsville's interim police
chief, said at a news conference.

Robert Valle, a 13-year-old who was among the school's 750
students locked down in their classrooms during the confrontation, said he
heard police run down the hallway and yell "put the gun down," before
several shots were fired.

"He had plenty of opportunities to lower the weapon ...
and he didn't want to," Rodriguez said. Two officers fired three shots,
striking Gonzalez at least twice, he said. The autopsy results are pending.

In the case of the mother defending herself and her son, it
is difficult to think that anyone would conceive that the woman should be
charged in this case. But, liberals have the capacity to defend the most outrageous
conduct.

In the case of the 15 year-old student, his parents are understandably
grief-stricken that their child is dead, but in their grief want to blame police
instead of their son. Most 15 year-olds are in the 10th grade, so we must
wonder why this boy was only in the 8th grade.

Reportedly, he assaulted one student prior to the shootout,
and verbally threatened to shoot at police.

It is difficult to feel any sympathy for the cretins who
broke into the young mother’s home, or the kid who took a real-looking gun to a
school and threatened to shoot people. They acted stupidly and got what they
deserved.

It is equally impossible to blame the young mother for
defending herself and her child in her own home, or the police who thought the
gun was real and acted when the boy refused to drop it.

They are innocent and should be commended for acting
appropriately in a dangerous situation.

Update February 9, 2009: The worldwide financial crisis has made it harder on banks and credit card companies are facing rising delinquency...

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